Why buy hotel rooms in Portugal?

If you’re considering making an investment in hotel rooms overseas or buying a holiday home in the sun here are ten reasons why we think a buy to let investment in Portugal is a good choice.

1. Golf

"Just under a quarter of a million golfers hit Portugal every year"

• Golf tourism growing four times faster than all other forms of tourism
• Portugal now generally accepted as being Europes number one destination for golf
• Season that lasts from late autumn till late spring with mild and sunny winters
• Just under a quarter of a million golfers hit Portugal every year
• Golf's popularuty is a major factor in strengthening capital appreciation

2. Resilient property prices

• During last ten years property prices in the Algarve have virtually doubled
• Prices increased by 6% in 2006 and by up to 10% in 2007/2008.
• Property market in Portugal much better suited to weathering the current credit crunch due to tighter controls on borrowing and banking

3. Portugal still has a buoyant Buy to let market

"Over 200,000 of UK residents have already purchased a property in Portugal for investment"

• Something for everyone with appeal thats growing annually
• A destination offering fantastic weather, stunning beaches, entertainment, sporting activities, great food, wine, a diverse way of life and 300 days of sunshine a year
• Over 200,000 of UK residents have already purchased a property in Portugal for investment
• Straight forward and uncomplicated property purchase process with a range of British and International banks geared towards foreign investors with English-speaking representatives

4. Strong Tourist Demand

Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city attracting the most number of tourists, with 7 million of them sleeping in the city's hotels

• Portugal is among the top 20 most visited destinations in the world and is especially popular with the British
• Almost a quarter of tourism to Portugal comes from UK with 1.5m British tourists visiting every year
• In total eleven million visitors travelled to Portugal last year (Source: World Travel and Tourism Council) and tourism based growth will be in the region of a minimum 3% annually from now until 2017
• Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city attracting the most number of tourists, with 7 million of them sleeping in the city's hotels in 2006. This figure grew by 11.8% compared to the previous year

5. Strong links to the UK

• The alliance between Portugal and the UK is older than any other and began with a Treaty in 1373
• 60,000-70,000 British nationals who are part-time or permanent residents
• Estimated 250,000 Portuguese nationals currently living and working in UK
• Trade between UK and Portugal now worth well over £5b and in 2007 the UK was Portugal’s 4th largest export market and 6th largest supplier
• After Spain, France and the USA, Portugal is the fourth most popular place for Brits to own a second home abroad

6. Portugal is easily accessible and affordable

• From UK EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Monarch, Jet2 are among some of the regular airlines that offer cheap, direct flights into Portugal
• Cost of living in Portugal considerably cheaper than many other European countries.

7. Portugal – A stable government and prosperous place to do business

"In 2008 the Times Online put Portugal in the top 20 most stable and prosperous countries in the world"

• In 2008 the Times Online put Portugal in the top 20 most stable and prosperous countries in the world
• Stable and well organised democratic government consisting of four main parts - the Presidency, the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (the Government), the Assembly of the Republic (the parliament) and the Judiciary
• Portugal consistently prosperous over past two decades
• Many state-controlled firms now privatised, liberalizing key areas of economy including finance and telecommunications sectors
• Government has introduced a broad range of measures to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public services and lower costs that government administration and regulations impose on citizens and firms

8. A strong and well funded infrastructure

• Portugal will invest 10 billion Euros into its infrastructure over the next 5 years, making use of the European Union’s structural and cohesion funds
• Portugal has benefited heavily from EU integration receiving approximately US$24 billion in development funds from the EU between 1987 and 1998, much of which has quite literally been poured into the country’s infrastructure with the expansion of dams, ports, a new international airport, new metro system, modernisation of the country’s railroad system, upgrading of the natural gas pipeline system and additional roads with a well developed road transportation network of some 59,100 Kilometres.
• Portugal has become a leader in alternative power sources, having opened the world’s largest solar power station, with Government committed to investing $3.8 billion over next 5 years

9. A robust economy

• One of 15 fully fledged members of the European Monetary Union (EMU)
• Founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) with no restrictions on flow of goods, services or capital between Portugal and EU neighbors
• Up until 1990, Portugal was Europe's fastest-growing economy with an increase of 5.5% GDP in 1989. Between 1985 and 1989 GDP rose an average of 4.4%, much more than for any other European country. More, in fact, than the US (3.4%) and Canada (4.1%), and almost as much as Japan (4.5%).
• In the 1990s, Portugal’s GDP increased by about 25% and its population by 1%. GDP per capita rose by 23%. After 1993, GDP growth was significantly higher than for the EU as a whole
• In 2005 GDP growth stood at 0.5% and rose to around 1.3 % in 2006.
• In 2007, the rate of growth is approx. 1.9% and 2008 is expected to show about 2%.

10. Tax friendly and attractive to foreign investment

Portugal has the lowest corporation tax in the whole of Western Europe

• Portugal has the lowest corporation tax in the whole of Western Europe and just as importantly there is no inheritance tax between close family members i.e. spouses and children.
• Policies in place designed specifically to attract foreign investment such as offering attractive finance grants and additional tax breaks.
• Since the mid-1980s the country has become especially competitive in attracting foreign investment through political stability, hospitable investment climate that includes EC investment subsidies, lowest wage scale among the EC-12 and programs of economic deregulation and privatisation and robust national economic and export growth
  

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